Rape Rampant In US Military

[Coito ergo sum]

the article was actually just reposted on znet, its from aljazeera.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/fe ... 44551.html

Yeah - but, just check out the history on Dahr Jamail. It's plain why that guy wrote such a shoddily supported article making grandiose claims for which he provides nothing in the way of actual evidence....he has an agenda, and it ain't to be objective.

Objective? OK, I just hope you disregard every article on middle eastern topics written by western sources.

If they are sources that have a clear bias against the middle eastern country in question, then sure, I'll disregard it.

I also will disregard any article that says something is "rampant" and then proceeds to cite ZERO statistics to show that anything is "rampant." If the claim is that rape is rampant, there would be statistics, not just anecdotal examples, of the rampant-ness.

[Gallstones]

Sexism was there, for sure, but sexual assault was rare in my experience and certainly not rampant. Things may have changed since then. During my time a DI had to ask permission to touch you. And yes, I was one of five females assigned for the first time to a company of 150. Yes, the men had difficulty understanding just what our role was---the same as theirs BTW. And yes, some were hostile to the idea of us being there at first. However, most of us were able to put their anxiety to rest once we got into the jobs. There were some, who in the beginning were noticeably discomfited by my presence, but when my discharge date came were crying when they said goodbye and couldn't do enough for me--like ply me with hashish as a send off.

I guess you could say, I broke them in to serving with women.

Wait, what?

[Coito ergo sum]

I found it interesting that the article cited the horror of women being called "girls" and "dykes" by drill instructors....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUc62jD- ... re=related[/youtube]

R. Lee Ermey, the drill instructor in the above scene, ad libbed most of the dialogue in the drill instructor scenes based on his experience as a Marine drill instructor.

When women were first being admitted to the Marines and military schools, the claim was that they wouldn't want special treatment. Well, if that's true then surely they cant object to being called names by drill instructors, even sexist ones. Basic training is about getting toughened up, isn't it?

[Gallstones]

Made me tough.

[eXcommunicate]

They be rapin errbody out derr.

[sandinista]

More stats?

Canada is fifth in the world in rapes: 0.733089 per 1,000 people, which is more than twice as many per thousand as occur in the United States 0.301318 per 1,000 people. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_r ... per-capita

So, Sandy and the rest of the Canucks have some 'splainin' to do....you need to cut down on the "rampant" rape up there in the Great White North.

Oops.

...but again, because rape is happening elsewhere doesn't make it more acceptable. Of course "we" need to do everything we can do to eliminate sexual assault in canaduh. There is no "oops". Look at the total per country:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap-crime-rapes

USA#!

stats like this can be very misleading as well btw. Especially with rapes being reported or not. Those stats also don't really explain anything at all. Just numbers.

[Ian]

Regardless, of whether it exists elsewhere or not, it doesn't mean it's not a problem, and it should be treated with the utmost seriousness. I bet you all would be a lot less cavalier about it if you had a spouse or partner serving in the military.

EDIT:

Also, since the military does police itself, it is worth looking at it closely since what goes on in the military justice system does fall under the radar too often.

All good points. Sexual assault is a damn tough thing to get statistics on, what with underreporting, problems of evidence, and so on. I'll readily admit that it's a problem within the military. What the OP didn't bother pointing out is that it's a problem across human society, and not necessarily more prevalent amongst servicemen.

Some broad statistics would be good. Until then (using my earlier comparison with college kids), I can only go with my own assumptions, having been both an on-campus college student and a serviceman. Were I to make a bet, I'd say it is a bigger problem around college dorms and apartments than military barracks and off-base housing. But I don't know for sure.

[maiforpeace]

Regardless, of whether it exists elsewhere or not, it doesn't mean it's not a problem, and it should be treated with the utmost seriousness. I bet you all would be a lot less cavalier about it if you had a spouse or partner serving in the military.

EDIT:

Also, since the military does police itself, it is worth looking at it closely since what goes on in the military justice system does fall under the radar too often.

All good points. Sexual assault is a damn tough thing to get statistics on, what with underreporting, problems of evidence, and so on. I'll readily admit that it's a problem within the military. What the OP didn't bother pointing out is that it's a problem across human society, and not necessarily more prevalent amongst servicemen.

Some broad statistics would be good. Until then (using my earlier comparison with college kids), I can only go with my own assumptions, having been both an on-campus college student and a serviceman. Were I to make a bet, I'd say it is a bigger problem around college dorms and apartments than military barracks and off-base housing. But I don't know for sure.

And that is so tragic too.

The rape that occurs in the military that is, by far, the worst though is the systematic rape of women as a weapon of war, as in Bosnia or the Congo.

[Blondie]

Yawn. Compare the numbers to a cross-section of college campuses and get back to us.

go for it. Not surprised that a story of rampant rape gets a "yawn" from Ian. Not surprised at all.

It's cos Ian's the one doing all the rapin'.

...or just indifferent to it.

Is it rape if he gets off on it?

[Warren Dew]

In any case - based on the article, it says there were about 3200 military rapes in 2009. Well, there were 2.25 million active duty military and reserves in May, 2009. Compare that to the population at large.

Why do you include reservists? Reservists are essentially civilians 90% of the time.

[Gallstones]

Yawn. Compare the numbers to a cross-section of college campuses and get back to us.

go for it. Not surprised that a story of rampant rape gets a "yawn" from Ian. Not surprised at all.

It's cos Ian's the one doing all the rapin'.

...or just indifferent to it.

Is it rape if he gets off on it?

Especially.
You are just being a shit.

[Trolldor]

And you can go to bed without dinner too.

[charlou]

Yawn. Compare the numbers to a cross-section of college campuses and get back to us.

go for it. Not surprised that a story of rampant rape gets a "yawn" from Ian. Not surprised at all.

It's cos Ian's the one doing all the rapin'.

...or just indifferent to it.

I think he was just making the point that rape in the army is likely to be no more prevalent than rape in other places.

Or than rape on college campuses, at least.

I certainly don't believe it's unique to the US and I don't think shining a light on this aspect of it negates the importance of addressing any other, similar abuses elsewhere, but one does wonder about the institutionalised culture behind it in a so-called civilised western country ...

[JimC]

What would be needed to gain a rational handle on this debate is a systematic survey on several separate areas, including:

1. Are rapes by military personel world-wide more common than rapes by males in the same general age bracket?

2. Are rapes within a military service more common than in a similar group of civilian employees (or perhaps students), again on a world-wide basis?

3. Finally, are rapes within US military forces significantly more or less prevalent than other military forces around the world?

And I fully understand that gathering and objectively interpreting the data would be a difficult process...

But, without such figures, we again descend into a sterile pro and anti US debate...

[charlou]

In this instance, it's kinda more about being pro discussing and aiming to resolve a serious human rights abuse issue wherever there is one. There are often threads about human rights abuses that go on in other cultures ... the application of sharia law, for example ... but no-one here takes those personally. If there's a problem with rape in the US military then it should be raised and discussed. The fact that it happens elsewhere doesn't detract from the importance of discussing it in this case.